Salt precipitation challenge in floating interfacial solar water desalination systems

Water desalination through interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) has been introduced as a sustainable technology to overcome the potable water supplying challenges. In the floating devices employed for ISSG, three main processes of sun-photons absorption, heat generation and management, and water transferring are integrated to produce steam. Inorganic scaling in these devices is considered as one of the main challenges they face, causing the loss of performance during the operation, emphasizing the importance of salt-resistant ability. This work focuses on the problem of the salt-precipitation in the ISSG systems and the strategies that have been employed for overcoming this challenge. In this regard, the used strategies are categorized into four groups including dissolving back precipitated salt via diffusion, double-layer Janus structure, salt ion repulsion, and localizing salt crystals on borders. To obtain insight on a realistic path towards durable and commercially viable ISSG devices, it shows how the materials especially polymers and structures have been engineered to make the device salt-resistant, providing its performance stability. Finally, this work focuses on the future perspectives of the polymer-based ISSG devices regarding their salt-resistant feature and practical applications.